The Present
by Kayla Gayle
Summary: Nick gets an unknown gift for his birthday. My entry in the Slinky Challenge for the Crusader newsletter.


Slinky Challenge Story

They belong to whom they belong and I am making no cash off of this, I just do it for the glory.  Thanks to Nancy Debra for issuing the challage and it can be found on their site.  Full permission granted to archive to any of the known sites.

As normal, all reviews are welcomed.  Please let me know what you think of this story.  It's actually my first completed one!

**THE PRESENT**

The present had arrived as a gag gift for what was obsentiably his birthday. The whole station it seemed had gotten him presents and this was one of the oddest. It came in a square box and was called a Neon Slinky.

To the blonde detective it sounded vaguely sexual, but who would give him something like that. A thought of the Coroner ran thru his mind and was dismissed. She wouldn't give him something like that would she?

He had thanked everyone profusely and then since it was a slow night,   
he had been sent home early as a present for solving a big poisoning case earlier that week. Ever since his partner had died in the crash,   
he new Captain had been remarkably flexible. That in itself was strange, but he took the out for he was very curious about the small square unmarked box.

Taking care as normal to park the Caddy, he took the gifts up to his flat. Some had come in large bags so he had just piled everything in there and left. The elevator stopped and he opened the gate and stepped into his stark living room.

He dropped the bags by the sofa and sat, taking the gifts out of the bags and piling them up on the coffee table and the floor. Once more he held the Slinky in his hand. He shook it only to hear a faint rustling sound, like a small snake. A snake? Nah couldn't be.

Shrugging it off, he rose from his place and made his way to the fridge. He opened it—first eyeing a shake that Nat had dropped off. This one wasn't that bad, but he felt he needed blood.

With glass and bottle in hand, sipping carefully so as not to spill one precious drop of this life essence, he sat again and stared at the box.

Finally, he picked it up and opened it—and out came a brightly colored coil, made of plastic. It had red ends and then colors around the round coils. The red turned into an orange which turned into a green which turned into a yellow and back to red. Stretching this thing out, he saw a smaller coil inside the bigger coil.

Whoever had given him this thing had put paper on the whole box except for the words Slinky. He ripped the rest of the paper off the box and quickly read what to do with it. At a loss, he began to pull on it. An inclination soon had him whipping the thing around like a jump rope. He was mesmerized by the colors and turned on brighter lights,   
though it hurt his eyes some. The colors blended together.

Then, holding it in one hand, he picked up one end and began pulling up and down, as a trick card dealer would do. Enchanted, he let out a small laugh and looked toward the staircase. Quick as a bunny he was at the top of the stairs watching as his new toy crawled its way down to the bottom like some demented monster.

It was off then to books, CD's, even his paintings. The thing seemed to have a mind of its own. Soon he was back to just moving it back and forth in his hands until the pull of the dawn meant bedtime for him. He went to put the toy back in its box when he noticed a note at the bottom. Pulling it out, he read it through, smiling.

_"Nick,_

_I'm going to be out of town for your birthday so I gave this to Natalie to give to you. I hope you like it. I had one myself when I was small._

_See you when I get back from vacation.   
And remember that some people are like Slinky's; not really god for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs._

_Don"_

A last gift from a friend. With a wistful smile back at his present,   
he adjusted the blinds, and walked up the stairs.

"Thanks Skank," he thought as the sun rose on another Toronto morning.


End file.
